Poor sleep has negative consequences for health, both physical, psychological or emotional, and there is more and more evidence of this. Thus, new research has revealed that people with certain sleep disorders such as trouble falling asleep or waking up during the night or too early, they may have more likely to have a cerebrovascular accident. In addition, if the affected person had less than 50 yearsyour risk of stroke is even higher.
“There are many therapies that can help people improve the quality of your sleep, so determining which sleep problems lead to increased risk of stroke may allow for earlier treatments or behavioral therapies for people who have sleep problems and possibly reduce their risk of stroke later on,” said Dr. Wendemi Sawadogo of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, a member of the American Academy of Neurology and author of the paper. The study has been published in Neurology and does not show that the insomnia symptoms cause a stroke, but only shows an association between the two health problems.
Improving sleep quality prevents stroke
31,126 people with a average age 61 years they had no history of stroke at baseline. Participants answered questions about how often they had trouble falling asleep, woke up during the night, or woke up too early and couldn’t get back to sleep, and how often they felt rested in the morning. Response options included “most of the time”, “sometimes”, or “rarely or never”. Scores ranged from zero to eight, with a higher number meaning more severe symptoms.
People with between one and four symptoms of insomnia had a 16% higher risk of stroke compared to people without symptoms
The researchers followed these individuals for an average of nine years, during which time there were 2,101 cases of stroke. After adjusting for other factors that could influence stroke risk, such as alcohol use, smoking and level of physical activity, they found that people with one to four symptoms had a 16% increased risk of stroke compared to with people without symptoms.
Of the 19,149 people with between one and four symptoms, 1,300 had a stroke, while of the 6,282 people without symptoms, 365 had a stroke. People with between five and eight symptoms of insomnia had a 51% higher risk. Of the 5,695 people with between five and eight symptoms, 436 had a stroke.
The link between insomnia symptoms and stroke was strongest in participants under the age of 50, with those who experienced five to eight symptoms having nearly four times the risk of stroke compared with people without symptoms. Of the 458 people under the age of 50 with between five and eight symptoms, 27 had a stroke. People aged 50 and over with the same number of symptoms had a 38% increased risk of stroke compared to people without symptoms. Of the 654 people aged 50 and over with five to eight symptoms, 33 had a stroke.
“This difference in risk between these two age groups may be explained by the higher incidence of stroke at a later age,” Sawadogo points out. “The list of risk factors for stroke, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, can grow as people age, making symptoms of insomnia one of many possible factors. This striking difference suggests that controlling insomnia symptoms at an earlier age may be an effective stroke prevention strategy. Future research should explore reducing the risk of stroke through the management of sleep problems.”
Source: www.webconsultas.com
